Jan's and John's Peripatetic Adventure

iPhone Mania

We're in California for the summer continues...

Yesterday was iPhone day.

Since Apple announced it a few months ago, people have been going nuts for it. The media hype over the last few months was really annoying but we had to admit that it really did look like it was going to be as fabulous as Apple said it would be.

And it is.

John and I had no desire to wait in line for hours at the Apple Store. I read some news reports where people had camped out at the stores for 48 hours so they could be the first to get the iPhone. People really are nuts. I was planning to order it online but John was in San Francisco for back-to-back meetings yesterday and said that would drive by the Apple Store in the evening on his way home and see how crowded it was. He went at 10:00 p.m. and there was one person in line. The whole visit to the store took 10 minutes. So we both now have iPhones without having to wait in line for days/hours.

This morning we connected the iPhones to our computers and it was incredibly easy to transfer our existing Cingular/AT&T accounts to them. Then we set up sync for music, videos, calendar, contacts, etc., etc. It really was incredibly simple. I'm so excited I don't have to struggle with my Palm anymore.

The display on the phone is incredible and the touch screen is fabulous. It's hard to tell from the photo but the video of Kathy Griffin playing on the phone is crystal clear. We're planning to load up our phones with tv shows and movies whenever we fly, yay.

A surprise in the phone is the quality of the camera. Gorgeous. It doesn't have the anti-jitter feature that our SONY camera has, so taking indoor photos without flash may not work as well. But you can see the photo I took of John and it certainly looks as good as any I've taken with our SONY. I was surprised the phone doesn't take video but I'm sure that will be a software upgrade in the future.

The wifi feature is also very well done. We just connected to the wifi in our house and now we can browse, email, etc. OMG, there is the satellite photo of our house in Google maps. Love it.

We love Apple's stuff and are really excited that the iPhone is as fabulous as we hoped it would be. Welcome to the future. Again.

Vacuuming the Ceiling

We're in California for the summer continues...

I was shocked and upset today to wake up to the horrible news about the bomb in London. Horrible. It seems like it was just luck that they were able to find it in time which makes it even more scary.

And here in the U.S., New York City is doing its part to make sure the U.S. stays a fascist police state. Bastards.

John is in San Francisco today for back-to-back meetings. I'm taking the opportunity to vaccum the entire house.

While we were away this last time we got quite a collection of spider webs in all the ceiling corners. So it's time to vacuum the ceiling which is not one of my favorite activities.

As much as I hate cleaning there is that feeling of satisfaction when it's done and the floors look perfect and the ceilings are cobweb free.

But it all feels pretty silly when I think about what's going on in London right now.

Kathy on an Apple

We're in California for the summer continues...

Yes, we gave in an bought an Apple TV. All the shows I watch I have downloaded from iTunes so I really wanted to watch them on our flat screen instead of my computer.

It's really beautiful and well done. The picture is gorgeous. As fabulous as it is there are a couple little design issues that they really need to think about:

1. It doesn't turn off and makes a buzzing sound all the time.

2. It also needs a wireless keyboard because typing in things for the search for YouTube is tedious. The results from YouTube are also pretty pathetic, I didn't find the stuff I wanted that I know is there.

Other than that it's amazing. It's actually just a video iPod that connects to your television. It syncs with your computer the way and iPod does. Love it.

So now we get to watch our favorite show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List on our 50" flat screen. She is so great, I just can't get enough of her. I can watch her shows over and over and I laugh every time.

When I did the first sync with my computer before I knew how to work it, I accidentally had the movies box clicked so it transferred movies from my computer too. I don't have any Hollywood movies on my computer (surprise) but I do have the video that Kirsty made of her and me boating and hang gliding around my island. It's amazing to be able to see it so large on the flat screen and looked surprisingly good considering the high compression of the video.

Bend Over

We're in California for the summer continues...

I let Clyde into the house yesterday in spite of my fear he would burp up feathers like a cartoon cat. There he is sleeping on my chest while I read my book. '-)

Today was my annual physical. I am never sick so it's the only time I go to the doctor. My doctor is an idiot so I always make my appointment to see the nurse practitioner instead. Today I had the best nurse practitioner I've ever had. Sadly, she is leaving for another job so next year I'll have yet another new NP. Sigh. The good news is that when they weighed me I was three pounds less than my weight one year ago. Yay!

She has almost convinced me to go for a colonoscopy. Since I'm over 50 and approaching 55 it is highly recommended. Well, ok (shudder). But I just don't want to drink that stuff. Ew! I know from experience that I actually can't keep it down. But I'm going to go for the consultation and discuss my fears.

I will have two important questions for the doctor:

1. Can I drink the stuff that makes you poop all night with champagne to help it go down? I might actually get it down then and after a couple glasses I'll be so drunk I won't care anymore.

2. Can I have a dvd of the colonoscopy? If you're going to shove a camera up my ass I want photos for the blog. I mean, seriously, if it's not blogable I don't want to do it.

It's a test for the doctor. The questions are real. I'm serious. So if the doctor has a sense of humor and I feel comfortable with him then it will be lights, camera, action.

Also, a dvd party might be fun. Me and my friends can all get together and drink champagne and watch my colonoscopy. Balloons shaped like latex gloves would be fun.

Cats are not vegan

We're in California for the summer continues...

John came back from Foo Camp yesterday, yay. We went for a fabulous dinner at Fonda in North Berkeley. They have prosecco. It's not pink but it's yummy.

Yesterday, John was out in the garden and tapped on the sunroom window to let me know that Clyde caught a bird. OMG. It's a hummingbird. Oh, no. I took a photo but I will not show it because it's too gross. He crunched on it a little bit while it twitched (ew) and then practically swallowed it whole. Like a boa constrictor. It was one of the most disgusting and upsetting things I've ever seen. My sweet little Clyde is a killer! I'm very upset.

He wanted to come in for a visit right afterward but I just couldn't deal with hiim. He did come in after dinner and was his usual cute self, sleeping on John's lap on the sofa. Sigh.

Earlier in the afternoon I had a Second Life meets Real Life moment when one of the local squirrels sat up and just sat there looking adorable. He reminded me of my Second Life squirrel which is so cute, leaving acorns all over my Second Life lawn. It totally cracks me up.

Always on Sunday

We're in California for the summer continues...

John will be back from Foo Camp later today. Yay!

Last night I went to our weekly "friends" dinner at Unicorn. It was delicious, as always. We've been having dinner there every Sunday for several years.

I'm so excited to have photos of two of my favorite people ever, Bob and Teresa. Bob lives across the street from us and is the first person we met when we moved into our house and has become one of our best friends. Teresa lives next door and is such a great friend.

I missed them. It's great to be back in California.

Dinner in Berkeley

We're in California for the summer continues...

John is still at Foo Camp but I'm not sitting around moping (much), I'm goin' out!

Last night Sarah and her boyfriend Glenn came over and we went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Zax.

It was my first time meeting Glenn and he is hilarious and really nice. We started out with champagne at my house (pink) and then walked over to the restaurant for a fabulous meal, including more champagne (pink).

As much as I love London and miss my friends there, it's great to be back in California so I can spend time with my friends here. I adore Sarah and it's wonderful to be able to spend time with her again. We will plan many gurl activites throughout the summer.

The Wired Life

We're in California for the summer continues...

Yesterday John and I both signed up for Twitter. We resisted signing up for yet another thing but realized online social networks are the way people communicate in the 21st century. We're not sure why we have a telephone at this point.

As I put Twitter into my browser bookmarks I realized how many social networks I belong to and have to check regularly, if not daily, if not multiple times daily. The graphic shows all the networks I belong to. There are a few I don't really pay attention to, there are others I use regularly and there are others where I am "always on."

Instant Messaging is the new telephone. It's the way I keep in touch with friends, particularly when we are on different continents. Skype is the best for that because of its high quality video. And it's free. John and I even use instant messenger in the house when we're on different floors rather than shouting and hoping the other person hears you and they never do.

However. As a completely-wired-always-on-geek I enjoy keeping in touch with my friends online but there is a limit to how many social networks and instant message services I'm willing to join. More are appearing out of the woodwork regularly and I just can't keep up. And I'm not sure I want to. I have selected the services/programs that I think work best or are the ones the majority of my friends also participate in. When something new comes along that enough people I know are into then I will give it a try. Like I did with Twitter yesterday which actually turns out to be a very cool and interesting method of communication.

I meet people all the time who find it necessary to say nasty things to me about how wired I am or how much time I spend on the computer. They usually claim it makes me "less human" whereas I feel exactly the opposite. I am hugely more social online than I was ever able to be before the internet, simply because the tools are so easy to use. I feel that friends and being social is what makes us "human." Being social "online" is as important and authentic as "in person." They are not mutually exclusive; both are wonderful.

It's become a kind of barometer for whether I can be friends with someone I meet. I don't expect everyone to embrace technology the way I have but I do expect people to be open-minded and, at the least, polite. I have many wired friends and some who are a little bit wired and some who are not wired at all. It's all good.

Camping John

We're in California for the summer continues...

Today John is going to camp. Foo Camp.

He had met Tim O'Reilly a few months ago and so Tim invited John to this year's Foo Camp.

I'm going to miss him (again) but I think he's going to have a great time hanging out with all the power-geeks.

In the meantime, I have Clyde and my weekly Sunday night dinner with friends which will fabulous because I missed them while I was in London.

Speaking of Clyde, there he is curled up on John's lap last night while he was dozing on the sofa.

Blog Anniversary

We're in California for the summer continues...

Today is the three year anniversary of when I started this blog about living in London.

When I started the blog I had no idea living in London was going to be the amazing adventure it has turned out to be. My life in California is not nearly as exciting as my life in London but I still find blogging to be fun and even occasionally interesting. The blog has become a way for me to remember things and to communicate with my friends all over the world.

I feel like such a lucky person to have the life I have. Happy Anniversary, blog!

Smell the Roses

We're in California for the summer continues...

Since we have jet-lag, John got up at 12:30 a.m., went back to bed for about an hour around 2 and then got up. I slept until around 4:30 a.m. and got up. Our mantra is embrace the lag, embrace the lag and it really doesn't bother us.

Clyde was at the kitchen door ready and screaming to come in. He jumped up on my lap and stayed there while I did my morning computer routine. He's such a sweetie.

Our old espresso beans did not make very good lattes this morning so we walked to Starbucks which opens at the amazing hour of 5:30 a.m. After a few months in London there is something really surreal about walking through our Berkeley neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning before the sun has come up. I just love the space, and the quiet and how clean the air is. Sigh, the air is amazing. We got our Starbucks and the sun started to come up as we walked back home. It was so nice.

Here are some photos of our garden which is in full bloom. We missed that too.

Flying over the Golden Gate

We're back in California!

The flight itself was easy although it was delayed taking off for two hours. I wasn't able to sleep much because of the noise. Thankfully there weren't any rude plane talkers but it's still hard to sleep with the occasional turbulence and the noisy staff, etc. It is annoying that even when the passengers on the plane are well behaved that the staff carries on like there's a party, even though they know people are trying to sleep. Shame on you Virgin Atlantic staff.

I watched a couple fabulous things on the plane:

The Illusionist. Amazing film.

Then John and I both watched Extras. Omg, it's one of the funniest things we've ever seen, especially the episodes with Orlando Bloom and Daniel Radcliffe. Completely hilarious.

As always, our best friend Bob was waiting for us at the airport (he's a saint) and drove us home through astonishingly horrible San Francisco traffic. He and John went grocery shopping as soon as we got home because we have nothing in the house. While they were gone Clyde showed up at the door and was beside himself, as always, to see me again. He stalked around the house screaming while I opened the piles of mail.

One of the best things about arriving on a Tuesday is that our favorite restaurant Zax is open so we went out for a quick dinner. We were delighted when our friends Victor and Cindy walked in so we got to hang out with them for a while.

Then it was an early night for us. The first few days in California are always difficult jet-lag days. It's much easier when going to London than coming back. So, we just embrace the lag and go to bed early and get up early until we're all caught up.

Allstars on South Bank

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

Last night, I went to a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall on South Bank.

It's was a very, very special concert because it was my friend Kirsty's dad, Alan Hawkshaw.

I will admit that I knew nothing about this music but it was... fabulous! Seriously, I loved it! The only way I can describe it is big jazz band television music. Since I didn't grow up in the U.K. I didn't know any of the tunes but wow the audience sure did. They went nuts, it was wonderful.

They featured three of the top "library" music composers, one of whom was Kirsty's dad. Many of the musicians in the band had also been part of the classic recordings made in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Even I can appreciate how important and special that was and I loved every minute of it. The band was so tight; completely awesome.

As I entered the theatre I saw a gentleman who looked familiar and gave him a good stare just in case he recognised me. Since he is a friend of Kirsty's dad I thought he might be there and when I spotted him I wasn't sure. So I moved on and sat down. A few minutes later along he came towards me, he had recognised me and we had a warm hello. He is my Second Life friend Rik! Wow, it was amazing to meet him in Real Life at last. He is delightful! Really sweet, intelligent, creative and fun. And a shout-out to his wife and daughter who were also terrific.

Rik and I met at the interval and in the lobby we found Kirsty with her husband and friends so there was a photo op, yay! There is me and Kirsty and there is Kirsty and me with Rik. Wow, Second Life meets Real Life. I love when that happens.

After the interval was part two which included Kirsty as one of the back-up singers. Loved it. There was my Kirsty on stage singing with this incredible band including her dad. A verklempt moment, for sure. Again, the music was simply astonishing, the band is one of the best I've ever heard in my life.

After the concert I moved down to the front while they had a Q&A with the superstars. Kirsty came out and found me and gave me a pass to the...

Afterparty!

Pinch me. Well, we went to the 5th floor of the Royal Festival Hall, flashed our passes (neh neh neh) and went in. Empty. We were too early. So we all went back down to the lobby to the bar for drink. Kirsty bought us champagne. She is a saint. Then we all went back up to the 5th floor, flashed our passes again (neh neh neh) and the party officially started.

I had an opportunity to meet Kirsty's dad, mom and brother which really meant a lot to me. Her friends were hilarious and I enjoyed hanging out with everyone and we may try to plan a gurls-night-out in London.

There was a rumour that Bryan Ferry was going to be there. Someone else mentioned Lou Reed. Well if they were there we never found them, even though Kirsty and I hunted through the crowd with her video camera in search of famous faces. Some of them did look famous, actually.

Around 12:30 I realized I was tired and said my goodbyes. Wow, what an amazing evening. Thank you, Kirsty!

Update! Kirsty said that after I left Jude Law and Grace Jones came to the party and she got photos with them. I can't believe I missed it! Whatever. I'm not bovered. Well, ok yea, I am.

Kirsty's blog with video is here.

P.S. John is returning from Dubrovnik this afternoon. Tomorrow we fly back to California for the summer. Once again, London has been amazing. We'll be back in London in September.

Birthday Carbon Footprint

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

It's that time of year again, the Queen's birthday.

Again, the house shook as the jets flew overhead, very low, preceeded by helicopers, other formations of jets, etc. etc. etc.

I wouldn't mind so much if the Queen were paying for it but I suspect she isn't. Noisy, annoying and pointless. Particularly pointless since today the weather is so bad that the color trails vanished within seconds.

They even did it yesterday, when the cloud cover was so low you could hear the jets but not see them. The noise was really astonishing. They finally flew under the cloud cover, so low that the house was shaking and then they displayed their color trails. In the pouring rain. The tube barely works but the Queen got jets on her birthday. We are not amused.

Champagne Party and a Surprise

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

A few months ago Claire and Dan invited us to a champagne party. Champagne Party! Just the sound of it makes me tingle. Since John is in Croatia, it was a perfect activity for me to occupy myself in London and I always welcome the opportunity to hang out with Claire and Dan.

I didn't know that it was going to be one of the most memorable evenings I've had in London.

It is a club that Claire and Dan belong to and last night was their Annual Summer Champagne Party. I was delighted to be invited. Last night's event was at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel. In spite of my bad pronunciation of "Gloucester" the tax driver was able to get me there in plenty of time. Taxi? Yes. I've stopped taking The Tube during rush-hour because it is just too hot and crowded and is so awful that I'm sweaty and miserable by the time I get anywhere. So last night I was in perfect ready-to-party condition when I arrived at the hotel.

Claire and Dan met me in the hotel lobby and we proceeded upstairs to the Grand Conservatory for the party. We had barely handed over our tickets when waiters arrived and gave us champagne. Wow, these are my peeps for sure. I met a few of Claire's and Dan's friends and then they guided me over to a corner where I had a serious shock. It turns out the club is about chopping off the tops of champagne bottles with a sword!

And it was my turn.

Claire and Dan had signed me up. To be honest I freaked out a little bit. People were lined up and taking turns with the sword, opening bottles of champagne. Besides the fact I had never held a sword for any reason or chopped the cork off a champagne bottle, I was not comfortable with being the center of attention like that. Everyone was watching and laughing, etc. and I just couldn't deal with it. I know, I know, everyone who knows me knows I'm an obnoxious extrovert but this was different because I was not in control. Also, it was all incredibly British and I felt like I didn't belong there. I mean, come on: I'm an American in London who can't even pronounce "Gloucester." I apologised to Claire and Dan and said I just couldn't do it. So Claire, who had done it before, said she would take my place. I was mad a myself for being a coward but also relieved.

I watched a few people do it, including a gentleman whose name began with "Sir" and who used his own sword and missed on the first try. Right, I'm definitely not doing that. Of course, all this time I'm drinking champagne that the waiters keep refilling as fast as I can drink it. Well, that was why I was there in the first place and that part was working out nicely.

Then they shouted out my name. I was shocked when I heard my name and thought surely there must be some kind of mistake.

Claire told the guy that I didn't want to do it and that she would take my place. He said, "I'll hear no such thing! Come along Miss Buckman!" It was all done so playfully, with great humour and friendliness, that I said ok. Oh. My. God.

Well, there are the photos below. He was incredibly kind. The first photo is me telling everyone that if I missed and it didn't work that I would be using the sword to take my revenge on those who made me do this. LOL! Then he showed me how to stand, how to hold the sword, etc. It was kind of complicated and for it to work the champagne bottle had to be icy cold so the longer he explained how to do it, the more frozen my hand got. Hahahahaha! Then the moment arrived and I did it.

And it worked.

Whew! I was amazed. Then they have a little ceremony where they touch you with the sword and recite something in French and it's very charming. You get a certificate and a "Diplome de Sabreur" customised with your name, etc. Then they hand you a little velvet pouch with the chopped off champagne bottle top! It was completely hilarious and great fun. I'm so glad I didn't wimp out. Also, the next time we have trouble with a magnum I'll know what to do.

After that it was time for more champagne! We mingled in the crowd and ran into two friends of Claire's and Dan's. Paula and Michael. Within the first minute I was laughing myself silly. They are completely charming and hilarious. We all sat down to dinner which was actually delicious. All this time the champagne was still flowing. I have no idea how much I drank but I think it was a lot. It was exquisite and I loved it.

Thank you Claire and Dan for such an extraordinary and truly memorable evening!

John in Dubrovnik: The Summit

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

Today was John's presentation at the iCommons Summit.

I always take photos of John's presentations but this time I was able to take photos without even being there!

I was able to attend because they simulcast it in Second Life. It was completely incredible. The USC Center on Public Diplomacy donated and built a space on one of their islands for the summit.

I arrived very early because I wanted to be sure I got in since Second Life islands have an avatar limit. I chatted with a few people and watched a film about copyright vs. piracy, etc. It was really interesting.

Then people started to arrive for the keynote presentations at 9:15 Croatia time, 1:15 a.m. California time. I sent quick messages to some Second Life friends who were online and they came over to the island for the conference. I was also really excited because Kirsty popped online just as it was starting so she came to the island too, yay. You can see us standing next to each other in the photos wearing our Magnatune t-shirts.

There were a few technical glitches, of course, but overall it was incredibly well done. There was a representative from Linden Lab there who was a liaison between the conference in Real life and Second Life. And she really was. She took our questions and they were asked and answered at the conference. Toward the end she asked if there were any further questions and I said, "Well, nothing printable. BTW, I'm John's wife. LOL." We all giggled and then she passed along to the conference that I was there in SL watching. When they said this out loud at the conference everyone laughed and John waved (see photo). That was surreal.

It was amazing to be there in Second Life watching and hearing John on the video screen giving his presentation in Croatia, while I was surrounded by people from many countries all over the planet including my real life best friend. I was verklempt. We really are living in the future.

More photos and descriptions of the iCommons Summit here.

Update: here is video of John's presentation:

Sanctuary

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

Today, Kirsty and I did our day at The Sanctuary.

Well, it was...

Amazing!

It really was a fabulous day. They didn't allow cameras so there is a photo of us in front of the mirror at my house before we left and then Kirsty in front of The Sanctuary before we went in. It is, of course, lovely inside. We checked in and got our schedules, went to the changing room to change into our Speedos and then went immediately to the atrium pool. The one with the "infamous swing." The water was heated, it was divine. After an hour in the pool we went to the thai seating area for coffee and croissants. Yummy. We hung out there until it was time for our...

Facials!

I have never had a facial in my entire life because, you know, I don't like to be touched by strangers. It was weird for about the first five minutes then you'll never guess what happened. I enjoyed it! Seriously, when she put the microscrub on my face I just loved the way it felt and smelled. She told me about the condition of my skin and what areas to pay attention to. She put on a zillion scrubs, cleansers, toners, smoothers, exfoliators, masks, etc. I loved it, I feel really shiny. I was a little uncomforable when she moved from my face to massage my shoulders and arms but, once again, it felt amazing so I relaxed and enjoyed. I may even sign up for a massage some day.

After our fabulous facials we went to the dining room for lunch. Delicious. Yea, there was champagne. Then we went again to the thai seating area and chatted while we watched the fish and had some more...

Champagne!

Yes, more champagne. Lovely. Then it was time for our appointment in the colour relaxation studio. It was very relaxing but I cheated and opened my eyes because I wanted to see the colors changing. They tell you to keep your eyes closed which I assume everyone else did since I heard snoring. But I was there for the colors and the blues and greens were really nice, I enjoyed it. Then back to the...

Pool!

Yes, the heated atrium pool was my favorite part. I could paddle around in it all day. Kirsty and I talked and laughed all day and it was such a treat to be able to spend the whole day together.

So that was our day; a perfect gurl day.

Update: Kirsty snuck a few photos of us, click here.

John in Dubrovnik

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

This morning John called on Skype video so we had a chance to talk which I just love. He has great internet connectivity in the hotel, yay.

He also emailed me some incredible photos from Dubrovnik. Here's what he said about them:

"View of the old city, from the fort across the way. Everything is built out of this beautiful white stone. There are several cafes perched on the edge of a cliff over the water. On the nature preserve island, which you can reach with a 20m boat, there are peacocks everywhere, and they are not afraid of people. At night, cats own the back streets of Dubrovnik. Note the 3 kittens."

Wow, it's gorgeous! As usual, I am having regrets about not going with him. Kittens. Sigh.

A Visit to Hatchlands

Jan is in London, John is in Dubrovnik, Croatia, continues...

Today I met Claire in Hammersmith and she drove us to Hatchlands for a lunchtime recital.

I got to see a few of the gorgeous rooms before the concert and Claire showed me a few of the early instruments. It's all completely stunning. I loved it. Then it was time for the concert. Here's who played:

Katy Bircher - baroque flute
Reiko Ichise - viola da gamba
James Johnstone - harpsichord

It was exquisite. The setting, the music, the performance, all lovely. I was invited to lunch with the musicians afterward which was such a treat. I had met James Johnstone once before about a year ago. His wife, Carole Cerasi, was also there today so I had a chance to tell her how much I enjoyed her recent concert at St. Johns.

Lunch was delicious and it was great to have a chance to talk with the musicans and other lunchers. After lunch everyone went back downstairs to the room you see pictured below so that the guest harpsichordists could play the recently repaired/restored Ruckers harpsichord. James Johnstone and Carole Cerasi played various French pieces. The harpsichord sound is really rich; it's an amazing instrument.

Claire showed me a few more of the fabulous instruments in the collection and then we went out to the grounds so I could take a photo. It's a really beautiful place. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see it and to hear such a gorgeous concert there as well. I even got to meet Alec Cobbe. It was an extraordinary day. Thank you Claire.

My Purple Hair

We're in London, continues...

Well, one of us is.

Today John is flying to Dubrovnik, Croatia for the iCommons Summit. And I'm not. They are planning to simulcast the conference in Second Life so I'll be there.

Today is also once again the very important anniversary of when John and I first met. In 1992. OMG, 15 years. Amazing.

Because he is the perfect husband, John does my hair for me. As you recall, I don't like to be touched by strangers so I don't like going to a hair salon. Besides the fact that no salon has ever cut my hair the way I like. Ever. So John and I cut each other's hair.

He also colors it for me. Yes, surprise, I color my hair. I have a little bit of grey. Ok, some grey. Ok, I have a grey streak down one side and then more grey sprinkled throughout. In the U.S. I use Clairol Loving Care color #80 auburn. It's the gentle coloring with no ammonia and washes out in a couple months. The color is actually really natural looking and looks like I have reddish highlights. Oops, there may be friends who didn't know I color my hair. Ok, now you know.

We usually wait until we go back to California to color my hair but decided to give it a try here in London. I went to Boots and found a product that has no ammonia and washes out in a couple months. Perfect. I chose the color "mahogany" because it looked kind of reddish on the package.

Wrong.

As he was putting the dye in John mentioned it looked kind of purple. My strangely optimistic response was "oh, it probably just looks like that when it comes out of the bottle, it will be fine."

He was right. So now my hair has a kind of maroon, purple glow to it. I hate it. Thankfully I've had enough therapy that I'm not freaked out about it and realize that the color will eventually wash out to the point that I can use my usual color and then it will be fine. Gulp. Yea, it will be fine. Gulp. Please tell me it will be fine.

Below is a photo of my purple hair. I took it with my webcam sitting in front of my computer. It is not enhanced with Photoshop, it really looks like that. Sigh. The other photo is of another one of those pesky helicopters yesterday. The frequent, very loud helicopters that hover over Central London are incredibly annoying. And this one hovered literally over our house. Maybe they saw my purple hair.

The Speedo

We're in London, continues...

This is a photo of Covent Garden Tube Station which is now "exit only" while it is being renovated which means to take the tube we have to go to another station. Annoying.

But today:

A few months ago a friend of mine gave me a gift certificate for a day at The Sanctuary.

I have never been to a spa, mostly because I don't like being touched by complete strangers so I don't want massages and stuff like that. (BTW, John loves that stuff and goes for massages often). But The Sanctuary looks great, with pools and meditation and a restaurant and I saw something about champagne in their brochure. At the dinner party the other night I asked the other women about it and they all raved. Ok, then. I'm going. I don't want to go alone so I'm taking my best friend Kirsty with me.

The brochure says you are welcome to swim naked in the pool but there isn't a chance in hell I'm doing that so I have to buy a bathing suit and flip flops; two things I have not bought in over ten years at least.

First I went to Marks and Spencer but everything was hideous. I wanted a plain black one-piece swimsuit. Then I went to Snow and Rock and they had an ok selection and were very helpful. After trying on several swimsuits in various sizes because I had no idea what size I am, I ended up getting a black Speedo with a pink stripe on the side and black flip flops.

There will NOT be a photo on the blog of me in the Speedo so enjoy the one below, it's as close as you're going to get. I'll blog the day at The Sanctuary after it happens (although they do not allow photos). I'm having a facial. They're going to touch me, aren't they.

Sunny, Warm and Slightly Evil

We're in London, continues

Ahhh, today is Sunday, my favorite day in London because it's completely quiet until everything opens at noon. Of course, then it becomes hell on earth until midnight but I'm happy just to have a few quiet hours in Covent Garden.

The weather is gorgeous but it did go into the mid-80's yesterday so the house was a bit toasty. We are finally going to cave and look into air conditioning.

Since I didn't do anything interesting yesterday I am going to rant about iTunes.

I adore iTunes and I despise it. I adore it because having that much amazing music at my fingertips is a dream come true. I despise it because of the DRM (digital restrictions management). The solution to the DRM, even according to Apple, is to burn the purchased files to a cd and then import them back into the library as mp3's which is what I've been doing for several years now.

But not anymore.

This week I bought three albums as I normally do. Yea, I buy a ton of music. I burned my cd and imported the files. I always put the newest music I've purchased on my iPod so I started the transfer and... wait... what's this? The file will not copy because it is an incompatible format (see photo). I took the cd upstairs to my other computer and imported the files there and they did transfer to the iPod. Now that's very odd. You cannot take purchased files, burn a cd, import the files and transfer them to your iPod using the same computer.

Software bug or new DRM policy?

I went to the Apple support discussion forums to see what I could find out. There are many many people with this problem and it appears to be a bug in the new iTunes version 7.2. There are a couple very clumsy work-arounds but it's amazing to me that this problem exists. It's like no one at Apple uses iTunes. I suppose if it were a policy then there would be no solution so I'll assume it's a bug for now and will someday be fixed. Or not.

BTW, one of the most disturbing, and slightly Evil, aspects of the discussion forums is that the conversation starts out about technical issues and ends up being a flame war about grammar. That is typical of all discussion forums everywhere. Most of them end up being dominated by assholes which is why I no longer participate in forums.

More Evil: Today we were shocked to discover that our friend Steve's company no longer exists because of the Evil behaviour of Microsoft. Microsoft changed their Media Player so the music that Weedshare sells is no longer compatible. Wow that sucks. Microsoft is one of the most Evil companies in the world which is why I don't use any of their products.

And lastly in the land of Evil we have the London police. Well, police everywhere are Evil in my opinion. John and our house guest Derek were walking around London the other evening and came across the police arresting someone in Covent Garden Market. Well, first of all, I wasn't aware there were police in Covent Garden. There is so much bad behaviour and noise here that I assumed that either there aren't any police or there are and they don't care.

John blogged about it. It's both hilarious and disturbing. Here's what they saw.

A somewhat drunk man was being arrested by the police. What was unusual is that he was loudly mocking the police as they did this, and he was quite good at it. First they handcuffed him and then put him on the ground face down, continuing to “man-handle him”, and among the things he said:

“Oh officer, I know you love to put your stick there”
“Oh officer, I didn’t know you cared”
“Oh officer, I love it when you hurt me”

at which point they started to “hog tie” him (tie up his feet to his wrists) and took off his tie, and the patter continued:

“Oh officer, a little bit more to the left please”
“I don’t care about my liberty, but I care about my tie”

A crowd of a dozen comedy appreciators looked on, until the performance was sadly over when the police wagon arrived.

Well, I hope it was that saxophone player.

Dinner in Highgate

We're in London, continues...

Last night we went to a dinner party at our friends Sonja and Paul's house. Sonja is the author of the amazing play we saw a few months ago.

The other guests were great friends of ours, Jane Dorner and Stephen Gottlieb and Helly and her husband Andy. Sonja cooked an amazing meal, it was completely delicious. It was a wonderful evening of great food, good friends and fun conversation.

The photos are our journey to Highgate. We took the tube which was like an oven filled with sardines and pretty unpleasant. I'm thinking of a car service in the future because the tube is just too awful in the summer and not all that much better in the winter.

After we arrived in Highgate we walked through Queens Wood to our destination. It was a really lovely walk and we even walked back to the tube after the party because we enjoyed the brief escape from the bustle of the crowded London streets. Sigh.

The Ultimate Harpsichord

We're in London, continues...

Remember last year when Sophie Yates and Andrew Garlick took me around London to see some of his harpsichords?

Well, my harpsichord is ready!</